OS/2 Warp 4 Demonstration Sites rise above 225

Project scope grows with heightened customer interest

Palm Harbor, Florida -- October 15, 1996 -- With less than a fortnight until the actual event, organizers of "Connect the World with Merlin" (CtWwM) are already claiming success. The event, scheduled for Saturday, October 26, 1996, is a customer driven marketing event to promote OS/2 Warp 4 (code-named "Merlin"), IBM's 32-bit operating system for the Intel platform released last month. On that date, customers from around the world will conduct a global demonstration of OS/2 at computer stores, universities and schools, and cyber cafes. The group will communicate via the Internet where they will plot OS/2 installations on a world map and talk though an Internet telephone (both audio and video).

"We believe this event will be a powerful expression of customer commitment to OS/2," said CtWwM Project Manager Tim Bryce. "It is our intention to communicate to the press, to potential purchasers, and to IBM that we, as customers: Believe in OS/2 as a superior operating system; Are committed to the use of OS/2 at work and at home, and; Believe IBM is committed to the longevity of OS/2." Members of OS/2 user groups and Team OS/2 from around the world will be actively participating in this event.

The event has already exceeded the expectations of project organizers. "We had anticipated only about 150 demonstration sites," claimed Bryce, "However, we now have over 225 registered sites in 28 countries."

Bryce points to other achievements by customer volunteers as evidence of the project's success:

• Volunteers were able to persuade Fry's Electronics, a major retail chain, to host the event throughout its stores in California and feature a video-conference on OS/2.
• In South Africa, a friendly rivalry between OS/2 user groups in Cape Town and Johannesburg resulted in 10 demonstration sites.
• Australian user groups mobilized and produced 19 sites. Although much smaller geographically, New Zealand assembled 5 sites, representing a total of 24 sites for the Australasia region.
• In Europe, the Scandinavians put together 6 sites, the Dutch 5, the Swiss and Italians 4 each; even smaller countries like Lithuania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia are well represented.
• Perhaps the most impressive showing in all of Europe is Germany where volunteers put together over 50 demonstration sites.
• In North America, the Canadians have 23 sites and the Americans 63.

In all, there are over 1,000 customer volunteers participating in the "Connect the World" event. "From this base of volunteers we will be able to talk to thousands of consumers worldwide," contends Bryce. "As customers, we can go where IBM can't and offer customer testimonials. In fact, this whole event is a powerful testimonial by IBM's customers."

The "Connect the World with Merlin" demonstration is the first presentation of its kind conducted independently by customers on a worldwide basis for a computer related product (perhaps for any product), thereby demonstrating the power of OS/2 and the Internet. "I don't see any of Microsoft's customers trying to do anything like this," Bryce countered.

WEB PAGE

For additional information on the "Connect the World with Merlin" event, including the addresses of registered demonstration sites, please see the group's main web page at: http://www.tbos2cla.com/ctwwm/demosite.html